SA Yearbook 05/06: Tourism
Tourism South Africa is a tourist paradise – offering scenic beauty, diverse wildlife, a kalei- doscope of cultures and traditions, and endless opportunities to explore the out- doors through sport and adventure activities. Tourism is South Africa’s fastest-growing industry and contributes about 7,1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2004, total international arrivals increased by 2,7%. Although European arrivals decreased by 2,4%, arrivals from North America increased by 10,4%, Central and South America by more than 12%, Australasia by 4,4%, Asia by 3,1% and other African countries by 4,2%. In the first quarter of 2005, there were 1,7 million foreign tourist arrivals – the highest in South African history, representing exceptional growth of more than 10%. At the same time, foreign tourism spending increased by more than 25% to R12,9 billion. The tourism industry employs an estimated 3% of South Africa’s workforce, and is regarded as potentially the largest provider of jobs and earner of foreign exchange. Some 27 000 new direct tourism jobs were created in 2004. The fastest-growing segment of tourism in South Africa is ecological tourism (ecotourism), which includes nature photography, birdwatching, botanical studies, snorkelling, hiking and mountaineering. Community tourism is becoming increasingly popular, with tourists wanting to experience South Africa’s rural villages and townships. (See chapter 5: Arts and cul- ture.) Another key aspect of South Africa’s tourism vision for the next three years, is the vast business tourism potential. Injecting about R20 billion annually into the economy, business tourism is estimated to sustain almost 260 000 jobs, paying an estimated R6 billion in salaries and accounting for R4 billion in taxes every year.
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